Firefighters check the buildings in the earthquake rocked Mashiki in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, April 17, 2016. A powerful magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan early Saturday just a day after a sizable foreshock hit the region, with the number of fatalities now standing at 41 according to the latest figures on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
The Chinese Consulate in Japan's Fukuoka confirmed Monday that it had evacuated five foreigners among other about a hundred Chinese nationals from quake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture to nearby Fukuoka Prefecture by Monday in southwestern Japan.
The consulate evacuated four overseas students who are from Germany, South Korea, Canada and Cambodia and a Japanese student to Fukuoka by coaches on Sunday. The consulate set up a temporary rescue office near the prefectural government building.
Waves of strong quakes, including one measured at 6.5 magnitude and another at 7.3 magnitude, rocked Kumamoto Prefecture from late Thursday to early Saturday with over 500 aftershocks as of now, forcing the prefectural airport closed and bullet train services suspended.
Parts of regional highways and national roads were collapsed or broken during the disaster. Many hotels in the prefecture are also closed.
As of now, the strong quakes claimed 42 lives and injured more than 1,000. Some 104,900 people are taking shelters around Kumamoto. The death toll will rise as 10 are still missing in Minamiaso village, the epicenter of the 7.3-magnitude temblor.
